Seth Green

Meeting planner Sarah Vergin saw actor Seth Green having dinner Monday night.

"I was at Bellanotte last night for dinner with some friends from Texas, and in walks Seth Green and a small entourage. (I didn’t recognize anyone else). He seemed very nice and talked to the people [who] recognized him and took pictures with several people," Vergin e-mailed.

Did you ask the "Austin Powers" star why he was in town? "No, I didn’t," she said.

Bad! BAD tipster!

"OK, now I’m getting scolded," said Vergin in our post-e-mail interview. "Lots of people were walking up to him. He was there with an entourage of young sort of ad-executive-type people."

Thanks for the tip. Bellanotte confirmed that Green dined at the chef’s table.

Spiegel back in action

Flirtologist and FM107 show host Jill Spiegel is hoping to take a ride with flirting machine Matt Lauer of the "Today Show."

The author of "The Flirtologist’s Guide to Dating" has been in New York City this week preshooting a segment in which she coaches Minnesotan Belinda Larson, a divorcee who needs to recharge her flirting skills. The segment is scheduled to air Friday morning on NBC’s "Today."

"I coached her with a hidden camera and an ear piece in a supermarket," Spiegel said.

It’s similar to something she did for "Today" some years back.

"Then we were working with young singles," she said. "This idea is getting back out there; gaining your confidence and being remotivated to reach out and flirt.

"In our book [written with her husband, Joe Brozic], I cite Matt Lauer as an excellent flirt, and I talk about my encounters with him. And I love Katie [Couric], too. I love them all," said the Flirty One. "When I was talking to them on the phone, I said, ’There’s a section on Matt in the book.’ And the producer said he may be perfect for the segment. And I said, ’I THINK HE WOULD BE.’ My flirtation with Matt hopefully continues."

Within the past couple of weeks, Al Roker interviewed Mama Gena, whose "school of womanly arts" includes a class on flirtation. Mama’s version sounds like something I’ve either heard or read from Spiegel.

"When you think about it, there’s more than one actor, more than one singer," Spiegel said. "In the flirting world I don’t feel competitive."

Bet that doesn’t apply when it’s a matter of out-flirting Lauer.

Too close for comfort

The Rake magazine’s February cover is a tad too raffish for some.

To illustrate the story (written by the Strib’s Colin Covert) about nudism, photog Kristine Heykants took a picture of a woman that shows her navel, while the photo subject’s nether region is concealed with mittened hands.

Normally, the cover is shown each month when the mag’s assistant editor, Christy DeSmith, goes on "KARE-11 Today" to promote the arts section, "Broken Clock."

"This month they said they couldn’t show the cover," DeSmith said.

"It’s their show. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal," added DeSmith, who thinks the cover is funny.

Rake marketing director Linda Fisher said one area business initially refused to display the mag, which is distributed at more than 600 locations across the metro. "I think they finally agreed to take it," Fisher said.

"We’re laughing because I don’t know if you saw last week’s issue of City Pages. It’s a cartoon [to illustrate] an article about what goes on in the back seat of hired limousine. It’s basically cartoon sex. People are OK with that?"

Fisher thought the Rake cover was tame by comparison.

"There is nothing on the cover that you wouldn’t see at the beach — except for the mittens," DeSmith told me.

But if you’re on a Lake Minnetonka sex cruise watching Vikings enjoy imported strippers, you might indeed see a woman wearing only mittens.

"You might see what’s underneath the mittens," too, DeSmith said, laughing.